Anderson Silva has high praise for Jake Paul.
On Friday, Paul fell well short of his goal of beating Anthony Joshua and shocking the world, with the two-time heavyweight champion rarely being threatened in their boxing match before putting Paul away in the sixth round. Silva also scored a knockout at the Miami show, needing less than three rounds to defeat fellow former UFC champion Tyron Woodley.
At the evening’s post-fight press conference, Silva was asked how he thought Paul performed in a losing effort.
“I think Jake improved a lot and is doing a good job,” Anderson said, having lost a unanimous decision to Paul in October 2022.
“I think Jake did an amazing job,” he continued. “The big response is for Joshua, not for Jake. The people need to respect Jake, you know? Imagine if Jake a little [bigger] and had more time for training for this fight. I think Jake improved a lot, people need to respect him. I don’t say that only because I’m fighting here in the company, but it’s because Jake, the people need to respect Jake. Every single fight that goes in the ring, everybody needs respect.”
Silva, 50, was competing for the first time since his loss to Paul, and he added Woodley to his legendary list of combat sports conquests. From 2006-2013, Silva was one of the UFC’s most dominant fighters, rattling off 10 consecutive middleweight title defenses and stringing together 16 straight wins, a UFC record that was only recently tied by Islam Makhachev.
He is now 4-2 as a pro boxer after beating Woodley, a former UFC welterweight champion. Woodley, 43, stepped into Friday’s fight on a month’s notice as a replacement for Silva’s longtime rival Chris Weidman. Despite the lopsided victory, Silva hopes fans give Woodley his credit.
“I think Tyron doesn’t have a long time to [prepare] for this fight,” Silva said. “He’s a great fighter. A lot of people don’t give the credit to him because I think the people don’t see how much we work in this sport. The combat sports is very brutal and Tyron is an amazing fighter, is a legend, and people need to respect him.”
With the loss Woodley extended a futility streak dating back to 2018, a streak that includes a pair of boxing losses to Paul. Silva and Woodley briefly shared words afterwards, with Silva being gracious to his opponent.
“I just said, ‘Thank you, man. Thank you for accepting the fight,’ and that’s it,” Silva said. “Because when you go inside the ring, you go to win, but I have a family, Tyron has a family, of course I’m happy, but the other thing is I’m a human being and I feel a little sad. It is what it is, it’s a fight, but it’s very tough.”
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